Dec 30, 2007

Fran On The Big Economic Questions For 2008

We thought her column in the NZ Herald yesterday was the last for 2008, so it was a bonus to find more views from Fran O'Sullivan in The Herald on Sunday. Fran predicts turbulent waters ahead for the economy in 2008 and looks into the big questions. What will the inflationary impact of a price of carbon be and how will the Reserve Bank react to this? Will the world wake up to New Zealand's dire current account deficit problem? Will the New Zealand dollar return to a level more supported by the fundamentals? And will New Zealand and Australia do the sensible thing and collaborate on the policy response to climate change? Fran suggests collaboration on a safety valve as a good starting point.

We were particularly pleased to see the tribute paid by Fran to the great work being done by Catherine Beard on climate change. Catherine has been subject to major criticism by a range of groups but has soldiered on and keeps producing work of the highest standard. We wish the media took more account of what Catherine is saying.